By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Blaze 9s baseball team takes third at Orange County World Series
• Ceres travel team posts 5-1 record at NCS event
Ceres Blaze Orange
The Ceres Blaze nine-year-old travel baseball team capped off its 2025 season with a third-place showing at the NCS Orange County World Series. - photo by Contributed

The Ceres Blaze nine-year-old travel baseball team finished in third place at the National Championship Sports Orange County World Series earlier this month.

The Blaze fell one victory short of advancing to the championship game.

“There was a lot of good competition,” head coach Ralph Valencia said. “It was really cool to play against teams from bigger areas. In Southern California, baseball is different. They play year-round. There are no breaks.”

Third-seeded Ceres won five of six games.

“We lost to the eventual champion,” Valencia said. 

The Placentia Punishers eliminated the Blaze from the tournament with a 7-5 victory in the semifinals at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex on July 13.

Ceres trailed 5-0 through four innings.

The Blaze cut the deficit to 7-5 in the fifth inning. Brady Anderson led the way with a three-run, inside-the-park homer.

“Obviously, you hate to lose,” Valencia said. “But we’re happy as coaches. The boys played hard. They didn’t give up.”

Ceres earned a hard-fought 4-3 win while battling the CareerPrep Monarchs in the quarterfinals on July 12.

The Blaze compiled a 4-0 record in seed play, which was held at the Lake Forest Sports Park.

Ceres bested 562 Prospects 14-5 on July 11, HSF 2K15 14-4 on July 10, and The Base 7-6 and Pineapples 9-2 on July 9.

“The goal was to make it to the championship game,” Valencia said. “We fell short. We’re proud of the effort.”

The Blaze capped off the 2025 season with a positive finish.

Ceres amassed a 37-8 overall record.

The Blaze placed first in four of 10 tournaments.

“Overall, we played good baseball,” Valencia said. “We had a lot of good players. We had really good pitching. We had eight kids who could pitch.”

Ceres received contributions from 14 different players this year, including Anderson, Abel Acosta, Tanner Bispo, Dean Escarcega, Danny Jacobo, Brendan Maine, Aaron Mercado, Jax Moring, Jonah Nieves, Elijah Sanchez, Nolan Stamper, Abel Valencia, Luke White and Connor Zuckerman.

“They love playing baseball,” coach Valencia said. “They play hard.”